


we're not there yet

by evanui



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Humor, Character Study, Gen, Introspection, Light Angst, Overthinking, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Self-Esteem Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28889076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanui/pseuds/evanui
Summary: Tony leaned across Peter to open the car door and felt an arm wrap around him. His brain screamed HUMAN CONTACT ABORT ABORT and then short circuited. “That's not a hug. I'm just grabbing the door for you,” he grunted. “We're not there yet.”“Oh.”Tony pulled back and stared straight ahead, rediscovering how lungs work. He put his sunglasses on, despite the fact that he was in the backseat and had no sunlight in his eyes, just as a visual reminder to everyone present that he was still totally chill and unaffected by such insignificant things as hugs.Or: In which Tony Stark is an emotionally constipated idiot, and we love him for it. (What goes through Tony's head after the Great Not-a-Hug of 2016.)
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	we're not there yet

Tony leaned across Peter to open the car door and felt an arm wrap around him. He almost choked. What—why—

A hug. That's what this was. The kid thought he was trying to hug him. He would have laughed, except he was too busy utterly freaking out. Touch had been iffy for him ever since Stane. Since Afghanistan. Since… always, really. His brain screamed HUMAN CONTACT ABORT ABORT and then short circuited.

“That's not a hug. I'm just grabbing the door for you,” he grunted. “We're not there yet.”

“Oh.”

Tony pulled back and stared straight ahead, rediscovering how lungs work. He could still feel the heat of an arm around his shoulder, like an imprint. His heart tightened, and some kernel of emotion whispered, deep inside him: _Need. I need._

He couldn't remember the last time someone had hugged him.

It wasn't a bad feeling. That surprised him almost as much as the hug itself. Sure, it was weird and terrifying and he still hadn't quite come to terms with the fact that a human being had touched him and he was still alive and more or less okay. But it wasn't bad.

_Yet._ He'd said they weren't there _yet._

There was no _yet,_ Tony reminded himself. They were not ever getting there. They were not even going in _remotely the same direction_ as there. _There_ existed in a whole different universe, one in which “Tony Stark” and “caring about people” were not mutually exclusive concepts.

Because they were. Just to make that clear.

Okay, he was overreacting. The “yet” had been sarcastic. Like, at least 73% sarcastic. No need to jump the gun, he wasn’t in danger of getting attached. Tony put his sunglasses on, despite the fact that he was in the backseat and had no sunlight in his eyes, just as a visual reminder to everyone present that he was still totally chill and unaffected by such insignificant things as hugs.

Unfortunately, he was a genius, and a side effect of this was that once his brain seized upon a bit of information, it _would not shut up_ until it was done analyzing. Which was going to take a while, because there was a logical inconsistency in the data. The problem was this: hugging someone usually indicated that you 1) liked them, 2) wanted to be near them, and 3) trusted them enough to let them get close to you, and there was no reason for Peter to do any of those things. Even the handful of people who sort of maybe liked him could barely tolerate him on a good day. He could barely tolerate _himself_ half the time. No way did the kid like him that much.

Tony tried to imagine someone looking at him and thinking… positive things. Things that could lead to hugging. His stomach twisted unpleasantly, which was probably related to the fact that he couldn’t come up with a single thing that such a person might think.

(The twistiness warred with this bright feeling he got whenever he looked at Peter, which was probably completely random and not related to anything at all.)

Look, some people were just huggy. It was probably just the kid's personality. Completely meaningless. Tony was just a mentor. Just the guy who built the suits. Not… what, a role model? A father figure? Did he actually, seriously think he could ever be either of those things?

But what if.

What if.

Ugh. Tony was pretty sure the kid had some sort of mind control thing going on in addition to Spider-Man, because he was getting _feelings_ now and he did not approve one bit. If he weren't the epitome of coolness and suave, he would probably be smiling right now. That's how bad it was.

_(Yet._ We’re not there _yet.)_

One of these days, Tony was going to slip up and say _my kid_ instead of _the kid._ Maybe even ruffle his hair or something sappy and disgusting like that.

He was so screwed.


End file.
